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Head Start

The Head Start Program has a long history of delivering comprehensive and high quality services to 3 and 4 year old preschool in the Spartanburg and Cherokee County service areas. The Head Start's funded enrollment is 570 children. PCA provides developmentally appropriate experiences for children which are designed to promote the healthy development of children. The Head Start program fosters intellectual, social, and emotional health of young children; Health, dental, nutrition, mental health, disability and transportation services.complement the education experience.

The Head Start service area is comprised of Upstate (northwest) South Carolina counties which border the state of North Carolina currently operating nine (9) Head Start Centeres in its service area of Spartanburg and Cherokee counties. The total of the service area (Spartanburg and Cherokee Counties) is 1,203.8 square miles. Spartanburg is also boarded by Rutherford County, NC to the north, Laurens County to the south and Greenville County, SC to the west.

Head Start has been providing comprehensive services for over forty (40) years in the Upstate. Four (4) programs are located in local district schools: Cowpens Head Start, Inman Elementary Head Start, New Prospect Elementary Head Start and ZL Madden Learning Center Head Start, two are housed in former schools and two are located on property owned by the Spartanburg Housing Authority. 

The goal of the Head Start program is to provide enrolled children a safe, nurturing, engaging, enjoyable and secure learning environment through which the children gain awareness, skills and confidence necessary to succeed in their present educational setting and will generalize as they enter public school.

Head Start provides the following services:

  • Children's Health and Dental Service
  • Nutrition
  • Disability Services
  • Mental Health Services
  • Education
  • Transportation

Family Partnerships: Head Start offers parents opportunities and support for growth. An integral component of this area is assisting families with goal setting through the family partnership agreement process.

Program Governance: The Head Start Performance Standards mandate establishment of a parent policy group and well functioning governing body which shares responsibility for overseeing delivery of high quality services to children and families in accordance with the Federal Head Start legislation.

The Head Start Policy Council provides leadership and serves as a direct link to their respective Parent Committees at their child's Head Start Center.